Among the things that make an SEO strategy successful, the way that you use links ranks high on the list of priorities. When link building is mentioned, SEO backlinks tend to be the first thing that comes to the minds of most marketers. However, that doesn’t mean that other types of links should be neglected. While backlinks are undoubtedly a critical factor in your website ranking and its perceived authority, internal linking – linking from one page within your website to another page in your website – can be just as important.
If you want your website to have a good link structure and organization of content, you’ll need to pay attention to internal links. Let’s have a closer look at what internal linking is and how to get the best possible SEO results:
What Is Internal Linking?
When it comes to internal link building, the first thing to keep in mind is what it is exactly. The links you place within your website’s content can have quite a few different designations, such as backlinks, outbound links, and inbound links. Internal links are the links in your website content that lead to your other website pages. Even though it might not seem important, there are also strategies and do’s and don’ts for placing them.
An Approach that Benefits All Your Pages
The main benefit internal links accomplish is signaling your other pages of quality content. Ideally, it also shows cohesion in your content strategy, as long as you are internally linking to content that’s relevant.
As such, this practice has great SEO value that automatically works to increase your authority and trust. It’s a good way to boost your organic visibility and read-through, especially if you also place internal links to lead to other content on your most visited pages.
Ease of Crawling and Browsing
Another benefit of internal link building is that you increase the ease of browsing for users. With strategically placed internal links, you can ensure that they visit all the most important pages. It’s even possible to create a mini sales funnel that would take website visitors through the stages of discovery and consideration before buying.
What’s more, adhering to good linking practices also ensures that Google’s crawlers won’t have trouble going through your website to index your pages. They’ll also use the number of links to a specific page to determine how important it is to your content strategy. This is beneficial, especially if your content deals with similar keywords and covers more or less the same topics.
Proper management of internal links will ensure that your website pages have a good structure, build authority, and are easy to use – both for crawlers and users.
However, even the best SEO strategy won’t yield results instantly. If you wish to start enjoying good results for your business, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to discuss your marketing strategy and help in any way I can.
Rob Dunford is a Marketing Consultant in the Great Toronto Area with over 20 years of experience in implementing marketing plans for small businesses.